


lilac, violet, lavender

by DrowningInStarlight



Category: Rusty Quill Gaming (Podcast)
Genre: Fluff, Friendship, Gen, Nail Polish
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-10
Updated: 2019-08-10
Packaged: 2020-08-14 08:27:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 623
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20189266
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DrowningInStarlight/pseuds/DrowningInStarlight
Summary: Hamid's painting his nails.





	lilac, violet, lavender

**Author's Note:**

  * For [abbeghoul](https://archiveofourown.org/users/abbeghoul/gifts).

> happy birthday abbegail!! you've posted so many good nail takes, this one is for you. hope you have a lovely day!

When Sasha walks into the room, Hamid’s painting his nails. 

She knows that’s what he’s doing even before she steps inside, she recognises that smell. Eldarion used to try to force her to paint her nails pink or blue to match her dresses, even though Sasha protested again and again. Eventually, when it had all become too much and she’d snuck downstairs for the final time, ready to leave forever, she’d smashed the little glass bottles. The colours had run into the carpet, tiny pools of yellow and red and bronze. The satisfaction made it look oddly beautiful in the moonlight pouring in through the window, the shattered glass glinting like diamonds. She hadn’t let herself think about it since.

Hamid is painting his nails purple, to match his suit. He doesn’t look up as Sasha lurks in the doorway, tongue poking out of the corner of his mouth in concentration. Sasha idly wonders why he doesn’t just magic it on. He still doesn’t look up.

“Hiya, Hamid,” she says, after a minute. He jumps, winces, and aha, here’s the magic. He cleans away the slip in an instant. 

“Hey Sasha!” he says brightly, dipping the tiny brush back into the bottle. “Everything okay? Be with you in just a second!” 

“Nah, take your time, mate,” she tells him. “Nothing’s up. Just wondered what you were doing is all.” 

“Oh, nothing much, just this,” he says, gesturing at the array of bottles in front of him. He carefully keeps his fingers spread, the purple already drying on his nails. “Would you like some? I’ve got quite a collection, Saira and Aziza used to get me new colours for my birthdays growing up.” 

“Oh,” Sasha says.

She watches how delicately he paints. Forefinger, middle finger, ring finger, all a shade of deep purple she would bet Hamid knows the name of. She doesn’t ask. 

She looks at the bag. It’s drawstring, made of crimson gauze-- it’s transparent enough she can see the colours inside. Red and yellow and bronze and blue, a rainbow, a kaleidoscope. Part of her is still telling her she needs to hate it, needs to kick and scream in case they make her into something she’s not-- but that isn’t true. Not anymore. There’s no desperate relief, no bitter victory this time, but still the colours look beautiful. She looks away from the bag to see Hamid watching her. 

“Here,” he says, with the quiet tact it’s easy to forget he sometimes wields. He picks up, careful not to smudge his nails, one of the bottles that’s spilled out from the bag. Matte black, it says on the label, and it’s safe. Comforting. She wonders how he knew. “Start with that, if you want. Let me know if you want any help, okay?”

He puts it in her hand. She takes it, silently. He nods encouragingly, and she curls her fingers around the glass. It’s cold. 

The bottles had lain smashed on Eldarion’s fine carpet, leaking their colours like tears. She could still see it, the memory lit by distant moonlight. She held the black upto the light. It was as dark as night. She had a new bottle, now. A new life. And it was hers. 

(There was a sheepish knock on Hamid’s door that night, so light it sounded like the person knocking almost didn’t want to be heard. When he opened it, he saw Sasha, her fingertips black with messily applied nail varnish. He smiled at her cheerfully, and went to find the nail polish remover. She still didn’t say anything, even when he’d shown her how to clean up her work, but she stared at her nails with wonder. That was all Hamid needed to know.)

**Author's Note:**

> find me on tumblr @drowninginstarlights


End file.
